“LEADS is unlike typical summer associate programs and is unprecedented in terms of its focus and structure. It is an extensive learning curriculum that provides diverse law students with first-hand experience in all the key areas of our labor and employment practice,” said David P. Radelet, Franczek Radelet partner and founder of the program. “We developed this program to fill a need for a community of diverse individuals passionate in the practice of labor and employment law, and over the past five years, LEADS has truly become embedded in the labor and employment field.”

The LEADS program is an intensive eight-week program designed for diverse first- and second-year law students who have an interest in pursuing a legal career in private practice representing employers in labor and employment matters. The program’s goal is to provide concentrated labor and employment legal experience while developing a pipeline of highly qualified, diverse candidates for potential future employment in the legal profession.

In June, the firm welcomed three Fellows, who comprise the 2016 LEADS class. A number of Fellows have gone on to have careers at Franczek Radelet, including Erin Fowler, one of the first Fellows, who is now an associate at the firm.

The three 2016 LEADS Fellows are Gautham Ganesan, Thalia Pacheco and John Swinney.

Gautham Ganesan, who will be a 2L at Notre Dame Law School this fall, is the Asian Law Students Association Class Representative and has served as an Intern with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers through the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education. He earned his B.A. in Sociology from the University of California at Davis. From May 2012 to August 2015, Ganesan served as managing editor and head writer of “Fear the Fin,” a popular San Jose Sharks-focused online publication.

Thalia Pacheco, who will be a 2L at DePaul University College of Law this fall, is the event committee chair of the Latino Law Student Association. She earned her B.A. in English with a minor in Professional Communications from Northern Illinois University. This past January, she volunteered in New Orleans for the Saint Bernard Project. She is fluent in Spanish and previously interned as a paralegal for a law firm in the Chicago suburbs.

John Swinney, who will be a 3L at Notre Dame Law School this fall, is an active member of the Education Law Forum and the Business Law Forum. John is a staff member with the Journal of College and University Law and a Student Representative for the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers for the 7th Circuit. He is returning for his second year as a LEADS Fellow with Franczek Radelet. He earned his B.A. in The Teaching of Spanish from the University of Illinois.

Established in 1994, Franczek Radelet P.C. has more than 50 attorneys and focuses its practice on labor, employment, benefits, immigration and education. The firm’s attorneys represent employers nationally in all aspects of labor and employment law, employee benefits and immigration matters in both the private and public sectors, in addition to representing educational institutions in education law matters.

For more information about the LEADS program and access to the 2017 LEADS Program Application, click here.